Kerry rejects smear and says: I'll fight back

Gen Wesley Clark has given his full support to Kerry

By Alec Russell in Washington

12:01AM GMT 14 Feb 2004

Senator John Kerry, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, strongly denied allegations of improper conduct yesterday as he concentrated on trying to deliver a knock-out blow to his two remaining rivals in the race.

Asked about claims on a Right-wing website concerning his private life he said: "I just deny it categorically. It's rumour. It's untrue. Period."

Earlier, Mr Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, had said that he was "not worried" about the allegation on the Drudge Report, which first broke the story of Monica Lewinsky's affair with Bill Clinton, that a woman had left the country at his request.

But he implied that he was already the target of a Republican smear campaign on behalf of President George W Bush's re-election campaign, and said that he would "fight back".

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"We know exactly where these guys are going to go and I'm ready for it," he said. "I've been at this for a while... and I've been through some tough races [as a senator]. I've been pretty well vetted and examined from one side to the other.

"I think they are in for a surprise. I'm going to fight back."

He later flew to Wisconsin where polls give him a huge lead in Tuesday's primary election over Senator John Edwards, a telegenic southerner, and Howard Dean, the former frontrunner.

His supporters' morale was boosted by the prominent coverage of Gen Wesley Clark endorsing him. The former Nato commander dropped out of the race on Wednesday, after Mr Kerry had two sweeping wins in the South, the latest in his string of victories.

But behind the scenes the race for the Democratic nomination is dominated by talk of smears and dirty tricks as both Democrats and Republicans trade blows in what is shaping up to be a particularly dirty election campaign.

The Kerry campaign is convinced that the Drudge Report allegation was a hostile leak with both the Republicans, who are increasingly fearful of the strength of a Kerry candidacy, and aides from rival campaigns, seen as possible culprits.

Now there are signs of a fightback with the Bush campaign starting to spend its huge war chest' of more than $100 million (£53 million), posting "attack" videos on its official website and e-mailing them to millions of supporters.

• Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi, writes: The woman believed to be the person referred to by the Drudge Report was in hiding at a friend's house in Kenya yesterday, along with a male American friend.

She is believed to have been in the country for at least a week and has declined to comment on the matter.

Until last year she worked for the Associated Press. As tabloid reporters began arriving in Nairobi, she and her friend were moved to an undisclosed location.